- you are hitting to many shots with closed stance
- your left arm is trying to do something but nothing effective, you are moving it away sooner after preparation without coordination with your right arm than you should
- legs are poorly involved in your shots
- contact too much in front

here is an update on my quest for improvement:
I have been hitting with my ball machine almost every day for the last three weeks and today I got to hit with one of my regular summer partners. We are pretty even with him (our two setters usually last three hours ) so he is a pretty good yard stick to measure my progress. We played 8 tiebreakers I won 7-1 (in the one tiebreaker I lost I made 4 double faults ).
With the way I played, I am pretty exited about the new season. Will keep working hard and helpfully will become the best player I can be this summer.

here is an update on my quest for improvement:
I have been hitting with my ball machine almost every day for the last three weeks and today I got to hit with one of my regular summer partners. We are pretty even with him (our two setters usually last three hours ) so he is a pretty good yard stick to measure my progress. We played 8 tiebreakers I won 7-1 (in the one tiebreaker I lost I made 4 double faults ).
With the way I played, I am pretty exited about the new season. Will keep working hard and helpfully will become the best player I can be this summer.

Sounds like you have really raised your game this year and
the serve is looking pretty sharp overall there!
Good timing, racket on edge and turning to the ball.
Good use of legs.
Good shoulder turn and rock, with hips getting close to parallel to BL.
Nice extension, but seem to finish strongly a little too low.
Could you be working too much power over the top and down, opposed to
giving it all up and into the ball?

Most strong pro servers have expended most of the power on the stroke up and
tend to mostly glide and decel on from contact on down.
Just from a quick look, it seems you are still carrying a lot of power over the top
and further down, which can lead to hitting the shins sometimes.
Do you ever to that?
I'm no expert on these terms, but I think good internal shldr rotation will expend that energy before it comes back down.
Does this help?

Most strong pro servers have expended most of the power on the stroke up and
tend to mostly glide and decel on from contact on down.
Just from a quick look, it seems you are still carrying a lot of power over the top
and further down, which can lead to hitting the shins sometimes.
Do you ever to that?
I'm no expert on these terms, but I think good internal shldr rotation will expend that energy before it comes back down.
Does this help?

Click to expand...

it is too funny... I actually did hit my shin, but it wasn't on this video, was it?
I will give your advice a try. Thanks

It's maybe not a big thing but look at how Andy's hand has really slowed at about (1:01)
rib level on the way back down. From then on it more or less floats down with his body by
gravity with all energy expended from the stroke.

Your hand is still powering down pretty quick passing the right side waist and over
to the left side (vs finishing on the right side).
Does that help?

I think 5263 is alluding to the high hand, high elbow AFTER the ball is struck, the racket is pointing straight down at the ground, but both hitting elbow and hitting hand is still ABOVE the server's head.
That's what I call the decellerating of the hand to allow the rackethead to whip thru and past the hand, adding to whipping speed.
Just like a whip, the hand only powers until the ball is struck, or just BEFORE, then the head or whip is allowed to fly thru/past the hand.
An example is...if you hand can fling itself at 700 mph, the head of the whip will NEVER exceed the speed of sound. However, if the hand goes say 70 mph, then slows down, allowing the head/whip to fly past, the snap is supersonic!
Expend more power up to the strikepoint, and exert no further energy after the ball is struck.

here is an update on my quest for improvement:
I have been hitting with my ball machine almost every day for the last three weeks and today I got to hit with one of my regular summer partners. We are pretty even with him (our two setters usually last three hours ) so he is a pretty good yard stick to measure my progress. We played 8 tiebreakers I won 7-1 (in the one tiebreaker I lost I made 4 double faults ).
With the way I played, I am pretty exited about the new season. Will keep working hard and helpfully will become the best player I can be this summer.

You're getting better shoulder turn in the second video and your ball is hitting the back fence a little higher as a result. That's a good measure of power, depth and kick. You could still take a wider swing path in your windup. It's a bit cramped.

You're getting better shoulder turn in the second video and your ball is hitting the back fence a little higher as a result. That's a good measure of power, depth and kick. You could still take a wider swing path in your windup. It's a bit cramped.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't count on the balls hitting the back fence as a measure, since most of those balls are one some even two years old and have lost much of their bounce.

A slight bump on the road. I think I might have achilles tendon tear . I am not sure but I think it was caused by changing shoes. I had been playing with Baracades for the last 3 years and never had a problem with my feet. The other day I bought a new pair of Nike 2k11 breathe, and after the first practice I started feeling this sharp pain in my right achilles, then the next day the pain subsided but it was still there. Now when I just run I can feel slight pain, but what really turns it on is serving. I read a few articles like this http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/achilles-tendon-problems-topic-overview and as much as I hate the thought of doing it I might need to take a break from tennis

:shock:Hey sorry to hear that. Take it easy and hopefully it's nothing serious. Was gonna comment on a couple things on your serve... for when you come back soon.

When you toss try to gently lay back the wrist (extension and slight radial deviation) on the tossing hand. This gave me better control of toss and better hitting timing as well.

Lifting the heels seems to be a little awkward. As if you are telling yourself it must be that way after watching pros. For a high heel lift to be natural, the knee bend should be deep and lean back of the torso should be strong as well. Without those two forcing the heel lift can cause instability and problems.

I finally got someone good to hit with. This kid is fresh reqruit in a div1 college and is kicking my butt pretty well , but... so far I have taken 3 or 4 sets off of him wihch is pretty good for my standards.

Nice stuff. You hung with him well. It looks like your slice backhand deserted you a few times because of his pace. When I play guys who hit that heavy, I end up having to use a much more extreme grip to slice it back.

I finally got someone good to hit with. This kid is fresh reqruit in a div1 college and is kicking my butt pretty well , but... so far I have taken 3 or 4 sets off of him wihch is pretty good for my standards.

Hey Gindyo, that was good. You played some good points and put him on defense on serve a few times. But, you need to UP the intensity of your shot preparation to handle his power. Many times you were caught not quite set up and ready to hit when you needed to be.

You are correct. This is a big problem I see every time I watch myself on video. My intensity and movement are horific. The problem is that I am so used to this tempo that it feels normal and in order for it to be anywhere close to right I really have to push myself and get out of my comfort zone. The other problem is the level of the players I usually hit with. Most of them are in the 3.5-4.0 range with not alot of pace and consistency and they dont require a whole lot of intensity. It is only when I meet players who can hit hard with consitansy that I realize how slow I really am. Hopefully this guy will stick arround this summer so I can use him a measuring stick for my progress

You are correct. This is a big problem I see every time I watch myself on video. My intensity and movement are horific. The problem is that I am so used to this tempo that it feels normal and in order for it to be anywhere close to right I really have to push myself and get out of my comfort zone. The other problem is the level of the players I usually hit with. Most of them are in the 3.5-4.0 range with not alot of pace and consistency and they dont require a whole lot of intensity. It is only when I meet players who can hit hard with consitansy that I realize how slow I really am. Hopefully this guy will stick arround this summer so I can use him a measuring stick for my progress

Click to expand...

It would help a lot if your stance in your ready position, AND your loaded up position, was wider and lower. Standing too upright, with your feet too close together, makes it harder to move to the ball quickly, and makes it harder to handle hard penetrating balls when you are set up to hit. That, with a bit more focused effort to prepare for each shot would do a lot.

It would help a lot if your stance in your ready position, AND your loaded up position, was wider and lower. Standing too upright, with your feet too close together, makes it harder to move to the ball quickly, and makes it harder to handle hard penetrating balls when you are set up to hit. That, with a bit more focused effort to prepare for each shot would do a lot.

Don't be picking on the old man.
I never said you were "3.5". I said you hit good, with your own style. Good, coming from a 4.0, means NOT A 3.5.
You always had a wide base, but linear, not modern open.
In not the camera angle, but your conscious switch to hitting off your back foot with an open stance that is the difference. Much better. Last step, right foot, plant it, and hit.

Starting at about :43 seconds you did a much more consistent job of staying wide, low and open. At about 1:10 you became a little inconsistent. Watch what world class shot preparation looks like from court level: